Variation in primate decision-making under uncertainty and the roots of human economic behaviour

Francesca de Petrillo and Alexandra Rosati
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Francesca de Petrillo: IAST - Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse
Alexandra Rosati: University of Michigan [Ann Arbor] - University of Michigan System

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Abstract: Uncertainty is a ubiquitous component of human economic behaviour, yet people can vary in their preferences for risk across populations, individuals and different points in time. As uncertainty also characterizes many aspects of animal decision-making, comparative research can help evaluate different potential mechanisms that generate this variation, including the role of biological differences or maturational change versus cultural learning, as well as identify human-unique components of economic decision-making. Here, we examine decision-making under risk across non-human primates, our closest relatives. We first review theoretical approaches and current methods for understanding decision-making in animals. We then assess the current evidence for variation in animal preferences between species and populations, between individuals based on personality, sex and age, and finally, between different contexts and individual states. We then use these primate data to evaluate the processes that can shape human decision-making strategies and identify the primate foundations of human economic behaviour.

Keywords: non-human primates; risk; economic behaviour; individual variation; cooperation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-evo and nep-upt
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Published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2021, 376 (1819), pp.20190671. ⟨10.1098/rstb.2019.0671⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03151858

DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0671

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